Police said the girl was rescued and the men were arrested after a police van chased and intercepted the goods vehicle in Delhi’s Shahpur Garhi, some five kilometers from the spot from where the girl was kidnapped.

A minor girl was allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped in a moving vehicle in outer Delhi’s Narela on November 28, 2018. The girl was rescued and the men arrested by a police patrol van which intercepted the goods carrier. (Reuters File )

A 12-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped by three men in a goods carrier from outside her home in outer Delhi’s Narela and gang-raped in the moving vehicle in the early hours of Wednesday.

Police said the girl was rescued and the men were arrested after a police van chased and intercepted the goods vehicle in Shahpur Garhi, some five kilometers from the spot from where the girl was kidnapped.

They said the girl and the accused are from the same neighbourhood.

The girl suffered injuries to her private parts. She was admitted to a government hospital from where she was discharged in the evening after medical attention. Medical examination of the girl confirmed rape, said police.

Deputy commissioner of police (Rohini) Rajneesh Gupta said the arrested men — Ravi Kumar, Mohit, and Vinod — were produced before a city court, which sent them to jail.

“A case of kidnapping and gang rape under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act was registered on the girl’s statement,” said Gupta.

According to the police, at about 1.40 am, the patrolling van intercepted the Tata Ace goods carrier after chasing it for a few hundred metres and found a minor girl and three men inside.

“The police van was patrolling the area when they spotted the goods vehicle and signalled its driver to stop. The driver accelerated instead of stopping it. The police chased it and intercepted it in Shahpur Garhi area,” said a police officer associated with the probe.

When the vehicle stopped, Vinod managed to flee. “The police caught the driver, Mohit, and his friend Ravi Kumar on seeing the girl. She said the men had kidnapped her from outside her home and raped her,” the officer said.

Police registered a case and the interrogation to the two men led to the arrest of Vinod, a mason. Ravi is a flower vendor.